Eight lanes for $80 million Inner City Bypass project

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk's final council budget has announced an $80 million plan to crush congestion at Brisbane's Inner City Bypass. The ICB is one of the busiest thoroughfares in Brisbane city, nearing capacity with more than 85,000 cars per day and average speeds dropping to 40km/hour westbound during the morning peak. The road is a major link in the city network with connections to Lutwyche Road, Airport Link Tunnel, Clem Jones Tunnel, Legacy Way Tunnel and the soon to be upgraded Kingsford Smith Drive.

The four lanes on the south-westbound carriageway would include two inside lanes for the ICB, one Airport Link lane and a lane for the Clem7 and Lutwyche Road, approaching the RNA tunnel from the north-east

Further west, there would be two inside lanes to enter Legacy Way and two outside lanes to continue on the ICB

The project would not be replicated on the adjacent carriageway as the north-eastbound RNA tunnel was not wide enough to accommodate another lane. There, the preferred option was a four-lane cross section on the northbound carriageway to the Herston Road exit, with the existing three lanes retained beyond that point

Cr Quirk said existing lanes would not need to be closed during construction, but speed limits would be reduced

The funding will be spent over three years, with the preliminary design work and the contract tender process expected to be completed in time for work to begin in 2016.

The design phase will also investigate the possibility of including a ramp from the northbound Bowen Bridge Road lanes to the ICB, providing a link to the Legacy Way tunnel. If that option is feasible, Cr Quirk said, it would cut the journey between Kelvin Grove and Toowong to four minutes.

Wednesday's council budget also included $665 million for the previously announced major upgrades to Kingsford Smith Drive and Wynnum Road.

These projects are designed to boost businesses and economic development, expand their traffic corridors and help future-proof our growing city.

Traffic congestion in Brisbane costs businesses and residents time and money, equating to around $1.3 billion per year, and without the right level of investment in our transport system, this could rise to $3 billion by 2020.